Tonnies Interview with WYRE (the LOVE CHILD)

WYRE

The Making of a Lovechild

Currently ranked as one of the best Musicians in not only the country but also the wider region, Wyre has come a long way and deserves each and every fragment of the accolades. If he is not churning an electrifying performance on stage, then he is in the studio cooking another hit that is definite to do a couple of things, wow the masses, scoop an award or two and definitely get the ladies melting. He speaks to Anthony Nabiliki of HFM.

Most people know Wyre as a soft spoken and shy guy, is there another side of you that’s unknown to many?
What you see is what you get.

Your music style is unique and it seems to border between R&B and raga, how do you describe it?
I don't have a specific way to describe my music, but I have a deep passion for both R&B and dancehall. At some point I was torn in between the two styles, but
decided to combine them to come up with my sound.

When did first start out in music?
I started my professional music career in 1998.It's been 9 hard working years for me in this industry.

The Lovechild, how did that name come to be?

My nickname The Lovechild came up in high school. We used to have burn out sessions after prep time in class. Every artist used to come through rapping, but I was the only one who used to sing R&B love songs. So all the dudes started referring to me as the'mushy,
lovey-dovey child’. It ended up sticking as The Lovechild.

How do you manage to steer clear of controversy and scandals?
I'm a very private person. I hardly go out. I'm only out when performing. I also don't do alot of interviews because people tend to misquote you. I prefer to let my music speak for me.

What are your major musical achievements and which of them can you describe as your most memorable?
Being nominated at the Kora Awards as Best East African Male Artist. Being nominated in 3 categories in the last Channel O Awards. Winning the Kisima Award for Best Ragga Artist in Kenya.

Guys get a bit concerned when people go solo, should your fans still expect a Necessary Noise album or now it’s Wyre to the end?
Necessary Noize has not broken up. We are just focusing on our solo careers at the moment. Before the group was formed we were both solo artists and always wanted to do our solo albums. Nazizi is currently working on hers' and is in the final stages of
completing it. We managed to work on some songs together when we recently toured Sweden.

When can you say you are at your best, when doing solo joints? As Necessary noise or as the East African Bashment crew?
I would say we're 3 totally different packages when it comes to comparing our solo careers, Necessary Noize and East African Bashment Crew. We all have our different styles and fan bases and when we combine have a different vibe.

Tell us a bit about Wyre the producer?
I have worked as a music producer for 9 years as well. I worked at Blu Zebra as a producer for 5 years and later on became a freelance music producer, which gave me more time to build my solo career because of time flexibility.

What can you describe as the lowest point in your career
The lowest point in my career was when two thirds of my group members (Nazizi&Bamzigi) had to leave the country for further studies shortly after the release
of our debut album. Therefore we couldn't maximize on marketing the first album.

You’ve had plenty of hits over the year’s, which among them would you say is your personal favourite?
Three of my personal favourites are 'Chuki', 'Make a Choice' & 'She Say Dat'.

Is there anything else you do apart from recording and performing?
Music Production.

What is your vision for your career?
I wanna be the first East African artist to go mainstream and get an international recording deal. Akon has done West Africa proud. It’s about time I did the same for our region.